Although “not a department store” is spray-painted across its façade, the new 55,000-square-foot Printemps, the first from the 160-year-old French chain to be opened in the U.S., is, for all purposes, a department store (just one that hired a graffiti artist to indicate otherwise). It’s no surprise Printemps wants to avoid the D-word, but opening anything of this magnitude is a big bet. Occupying the first two floors of One Wall Street (an Art Deco office tower converted to condos), Printemps is an opulent addition to very lower Broadway designed by Laura Gonzalez. The store will sell the standards — clothing, shoes, accessories, home décor, cosmetics — and has five food and beverage options from culinary director Gregory Gourdet, all of which offer Champagne to go. Less standard: A quarter of the store will be stocked with French brands only available here. Shoppers can get a head massage at the salon or take a French class. “We call it a hospitality project because it’s about food and beverage but also about service,” says Laura Lendrum, the CEO of Printemps America. “We think of it as a French apartment.”
1. Atelier & Repair
Accessories will be displayed in old-world cases made of Teign oak and maple.
2. Beauty Corridor
French pharmacy brands like La Rosée and Cottan will be available for the first time in the U.S.
3. Garconniere
The men’s department is next to a display of vintage furniture curated by Gonzalez, where shoppers can rest (or browse to purchase).
4. Salon Vert
A raw bar a few feet away from the designer-accessories section, named after Printemps Paris’s plant-filled Café Vert.
5. Sneaker Room
Will also be used for meditation, French classes, conversation series, and artist installations.
6. Maison Passerelle
Gourdet’s 85-seat restaurant.
7. Red Room
A 1931 mosaic mural by Hildreth Meière (which has been out of public view since 2001) is the backdrop for the shoe department.
8. Red Room Bar
A 25-seat lounge with a crystal chandelier, where you can wait for a table at Maison Passerelle in the next room.
9. Salle de Bains
Book a head massage, a facial, or a blowout. Dividers between the three salon rooms can be removed for a spa day with friends.
10. Boudoir
New and vintage women’s and men’s eveningwear — including an exhibition of Jean Paul Gaultier pieces for the opening — plus fine jewelry to match.
What Else Is New
Topologie
The rock-climbing-inspired bag line has boutiques in Paris and Tokyo; here, shoppers can mix and match more than 100 styles of bags and straps that hang from the walls. (23 Prince St.)
Cobbler Bushwick Co.
Bring an old pair of sneakers to this shop, which offers upcycling services — such as swapping out gum soles for derby-style ones — or take a class to learn how to cobble at home. (764 Evergreen Ave., Bushwick)
Grace Ling
The line of slinky, FKA Twigs–approved ombré dresses and chain-mail purses is now available at the new Hudson Yards showroom. (240 W. 40th St., Ste. 603)
New flagships from Vince …
Two Madison Avenue flagships just moved. One is Vince, now in a space designed with help from the Somerset House’s Alan Eckstein. Shoppers can enjoy complimentary mint-and-fennel tea while they browse. (1005 Madison Ave.)
… and Michael Kors
Just a few doors down from its previous one. There’s an oversize Noguchi lamp and a mobile by artist Max Simon that dangles above garments, bags, and shoes from Kors’s runway line. (667 Madison Ave.)
— Kitty Guo
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